


Camping 101

by NinjagoFan85



Category: The LEGO Ninjago Movie (2017)
Genre: Family, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-07-05 02:39:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15854544
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NinjagoFan85/pseuds/NinjagoFan85
Summary: Post Lego Ninjago Movie where Garmadon wants to spend some time with Lloyd.  What better way than to do a father/son camping trip?  What could go wrong?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is written from Lloyd's POV-first time writing in 1st person. It's going to be a 3 part story.

**Chapter 1-Hit the Road!**

 

I was hailed as a hero of Ninjago.  I felt so free being able to finally let the city know who the Green Ninja really was.  It was a long time in coming.  I was also treated a whole lot better now that my father, Lord Garmadon, had stopped attacking the city.  It seemed he wanted to try and change from his evil warlording ways. 

 

My mom wasn’t eager to let my dad back into her life so soon.  While I understood this, I still wanted to try to get to know him better, but since he wasn’t living with us, it was challenging. 

 

Just then, the school bell rang, signaling the end of the day, and breaking me out of my thoughts.  I absentmindedly picked up my bag and followed my friends out the door.

 

“So, what are you guys doing for this longer weekend?” Kai asked Cole, Zane and Jay.  It was an extended weekend, as we had two extra days off due to Teacher work days.

 

“Nya and I thought we’d go to the Ninjago theme park.  They have a new ride,” Jay answered, giving Nya a shy look.

 

“When were you going to ask me about this?” Nya asked him, with a hand on her hip, but a smile on her face.

 

“I am going to do my homework,” Zane answered.

 

“Seriously, Zane?” Cole asked.  “Who does their homework at the beginning of a four-day weekend?”

 

Zane shrugged in response.

 

“What about you, Lloyd?” Kai asked me, as we walked.

 

I wasn’t really listening to their conversation. I was thinking about my father. 

 

“Earth to Lloyd!” Kai said again, waving a hand in my face.

 

“W-what?” I asked, finally tuning in.

 

“I asked if you had plans this weekend,” the fire ninja repeated.

 

“Not really,” I answered. 

 

“Want to come to the new arcade then?” Kai continued.  “It’s got a new game that I hear is awesome!”

 

“Uh—” I started to say, but Cole interrupted.

 

“That sounds great! Count me in!”

 

When we got outside, there seemed to be quite a commotion going on. Cars honked angrily, and some people were yelling and screaming in the parking lot. What in the world?

 

As I looked, there was one of my dad’s Garm-a-mech’s I hadn’t seen before, apparently waiting for me to come out of school. Looked like he had cut everyone off to get to the front of the pick-up lane, which explained a lot.

 

Heat rushed to my face, and I was rooted on the spot. I felt everyone’s eyes bore into me. This was so embarrassing.

 

I could hear kids talking nervously, wondering what the warlord was doing at the school. Recently memories of him attacking Ninjago were still fresh in their minds.

 

“Lloyd, what’s your dad doing here?” Kai asked.

 

Before I could respond, Garmadon caught sight of me and jumped out of his mech and walked over to me. 

 

“Hey there, Luh-loyd!” he said loudly.

 

Several kids tried to cover their laughter at how my dad said my name.  He still didn’t get it right.

 

“Dad!  What are you doing here?” I asked him, as my friends looked on curiously.

 

“Why, I came to pick you up from school, of course!” Garmadon answered as if it should be obvious.  “I had to show you my awesome mech!”

 

“Right. Thanks, I guess.”  I turned to my friends.  “See you guys later.”

 

As I followed my dad to his mech, I felt everyone’s stares.  I climbed in quickly behind my dad and we took off. 

 

“Dad, if you’re going to pick me up, then can you please do it in a normal car?” I asked him.

 

“What?  I don’t do normal, Luh-loyd,” Garmadon answered.  “Besides, isn’t this mech so cool?”

 

I looked around at it.  It was a flying type.  “Yeah, it’s great,” I answered, “but you cut everyone off at the pick-up area, and then everyone was staring at me.”

 

“It’s because they’re all jealous,” my dad answered with a shrug, as if it was no big deal.

 

“Dad, that’s not—” I started to say, but he cut me off.

 

“So, I heard you have a longer weekend from school,” he continued.

 

I raised my brow at him.  “How did you know that?”

 

“I’ve made it a point to know more about what’s going on at your school,” the warlord answered.  I guessed that was good.  “And I was thinking it would good to have some father son time together.”

 

I was surprisingly thinking about something similar. “Did you have something in mind?” I asked, interested.

 

“Of course, I do!  I thought about it a lot,” my dad told me excitedly.  “I’m pretty sure you’ll like it.”

 

“Okay, what is it?” I asked, feeling curious about what my dad would come up with.

 

“Get this: we’re going to conquer Mt. Everest,” he told me in all seriousness.

 

My jaw dropped.  “Dad, you can’t conquer Mt. Everest!” I protested.  “Besides, Mom would never let me do that!”

 

“Hmm…you may have a point there, Luh-loyd,” Garmadon conceded, disappointed.

 

“How about a camping trip instead?” I suggested.  “I’ve always wanted to go camping.”

 

“Sure,” my dad smiled, “it’s not as exciting as conquering Mt. Everest, but I’m game.”

 

“Have you ever camped before?” I asked, suddenly slightly nervous.

 

“No, but how hard can it be?  I was in the jungle, and before that, doing battle in remote places, so I don’t think it’s any different than that,” he answered confidentially.

 

I wondered about that, but it would give us a chance to get to know each other better. 

 

“I’ll talk it over with Mom, and get back to you,” I said, as we approached the apartment.

 

“Okay, see you,” Garmadon said as he let me off.

 

This would definitely be interesting.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

When I told mom about the camping idea with Dad, she was surprisingly agreeable.  I guess she didn’t mind me spending time with him.  Her only condition was that we didn’t do anything dangerous. 

 

I then decided to text my friends to let them know my plans for the weekend and that if we didn’t come back, to come looking for us.  I got a lot of joking replies about if I would survive four days with Garmadon.

 

After researching camping sites that were in Ninjago (and there were quite a few), I found a great spot that seemed perfect. 

 

I called Dad on the phone to tell him. 

 

“Hello,” his gruff voice answered.

 

“Hey, dad.  Mom is fine with me going on the camping trip with you, so long as we don’t do anything dangerous.”

 

My dad laughed at this.  “Of course, it’ll be dangerous!  We’ll be alone, out in the field!  It reminds me of my warlord days.  I should bring some of my weapons.”

 

“Dad, camping is not like your warlord days (which wasn’t that long ago).  Don’t bring any weapons!” I insisted.

 

“Fine,” he agreed grumpily. 

 

I could tell he was still having trouble completely letting go of his old ways.  “Listen, I’ve got all the camping supplies we need.  Just bring what you think you’ll need and pick me up in the morning,” I told him.

 

“What kind of mech do you want me to bring?” my dad asked me.

 

I frowned.  I really didn’t want to go camping in one of Dad’s mech’s.  “Can’t you just rent a car or something, dad?”

 

“I told you before, Luh-loyd.  I don’t do cars,” Garmadon answered pointedly.

 

“Look, dad, just pick some kind of recreational vehicle.  Your mech’s aren’t big enough to hold everything anyway,” I told him.

 

“I can pick whatever I want?” my dad asked.

 

“Sure,” I relented. 

 

“Okay, I’ll surprise you with something great!  See you soon,” he answered and then hung up.

 

I figured that anything was better than one of his mechs.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The next morning, I had all my things packed and ready to go.  Mom was waiting with me for Dad to arrive.

 

“I hope you have a great time, honey,” she told me, kissing me on the cheek.

 

“Thanks mom,” I answered with a smile. 

 

“Keep your dad in check,” she added.  “He can be a handful.”

 

“I will.  I don’t know if I’ll have good reception on my phone, but I’m sure we’ll be fine,” I told her.

 

Suddenly, we heard the sound of screeching tires, and very loud, ear shattering, music coming from the street below.  Mom and I looked out the window and saw Garmadon waving up at us from his car.  It was a luxury, black, sleek looking SUV with enormous wheels.

 

All of our neighbors, who were rudely awoken, were now glaring at Garmadon out their windows. 

 

“Your dad sure has a sense of style,” Mom said, shaking her head. 

 

“Yeah, I guess so.” I mumbled, embarrassed. “Bye mom,” I told her, giving her a hug as I gathered all my items and went down to meet Dad.

 

I walked up to the vehicle and noticed that my dad had a canoe strapped to the top. 

 

Interesting.   

 

“Hey, son!  Check this out!” he said as he pushed a button in the car.  The passenger side door opened like a bird stretching its wings, revealing a staircase to climb up inside. 

 

My mouth fell open.  I couldn’t believe Dad got such an impressive vehicle!  As I walked up the stairs, I looked around.  It had six seats that were covered in shiny, black leather.  Up at the front, there a screen console and millions of buttons.

 

“Dad, how did you get a car like this?” I asked.

 

“I have my ways,” he answered mysteriously.  “Look at all what this baby has,” Garmadon continued.  “It has a high-end sound system, screens for doing whatever you want, and even helps you drive!” he gushed.

 

I started to put my stuff down, when Garmadon said, “You can put that stuff in the closet.”

 

“Closet?” I asked, confused. 

 

“Yeah, it’s in the back-check it out.”

 

I walked to the back of car and saw what Dad was talking about.  It looked like a mini closet with a place for everything. *  I noticed that he had already had all his stuff there; fishing poles, a couple bags and other camping stuff.

 

“So, what do you think?” Garmadon asked as I sat in the passenger seat. 

 

“It’s really nice, but don’t you think it’s too fancy for camping?” I asked as I fastened my seatbelt. I noticed on the arm rest that it had massage, heating, and cooling options for the seats.

 

“Nah, only the best for my son!” Garmadon answered with a grin. 

 

I gave him the address of campsite, which he put in the internal navigational system.  Then, he pushed his foot down hard on the gas pedal and we sped off. 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 


	2. Chapter 2-Expect the Unexpected

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's some angst and suspense here-be prepared.

 

As we were heading out of Ninjago City, we suddenly hit the morning rush hour traffic. We slowed to a crawl, only moving what seemed like a couple inches every few minutes.

 

After about ten minutes of this, my dad laid on the car horn-it was so loud! 

 

“Oh, come on!” he whined.

 

“Dad, that isn’t going to help. Relax!” I told him.

 

“This is why I don’t do cars,” Garmadon continued, impatiently.  “They’re so inefficient!  If I had my mech, I could smash this traffic!”

 

I sighed and rolled my eyes.  “Dad, no you couldn’t.  Anyway, there’s nothing we can do about it,” I answered, leaning back in my seat.  I had to admit it, the seats were super comfortable.

 

“That’s where you’re wrong, Luh-loyd,” he answered.

 

“What do you mean?” I asked hesitantly.

 

“Watch this!”

 

I saw my dad push a button on the console.  A message popped up on the view screen that read, ‘Warning!  Software needs to be updated before using this feature!’

 

“Uh, dad—” I started to say, looking at the screen. 

 

Before I could finish, the car rose jarringly into the air and took off, scraping some of the cars in front of us in the process.  I looked out the window in shock, as people stared and honked at us, as we flew above them.

 

“This car can fly?” I asked, incredulous.

 

“It’s a bonus feature that I thought was cool,” Garmadon answered with a smirk.

 

I wondered what else this car could do.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

We found out that the flying feature was not that great since Dad didn’t do the software upgrade.  It was shaky, and it kept losing altitude.  It was like experiencing turbulence every other mile.

 

“Mmph, this feature is totally not what I expected,” Garmadon scoffed, as he tried to keep the SUV in the air, without crashing into trees.

 

“Dad, maybe we should land and just drive,” I said, clutching the arm rests tightly, fearful of falling to the ground.  “We’ve long since left the city.”

 

“I don’t think we have much of choice,” he answered, looking at the screen and banging a few buttons.

 

“What do you mean by that?” I asked.

 

“Brace yourself for a crash landing, son,” was all the answer I received.

 

“WHAT?!”

 

With a sickening lurch, the SUV was plummeting rapidly to the ground.  I saw my life flash before my eyes.  This was not what I was expecting-my young life to be cut off before I really got a chance to live it.  I closed my eyes and prepared for the worst.

 

The next thing I knew, I felt like I was floating in the air-I opened my eyes and saw that I was above where the car had apparently come to a crashing halt.  I was now slowly drifting to the ground with a parachute above me.  Ejector seats?

 

“Luh-loyd, are you okay?” Garmadon asked, as he came running over from where his seat had already landed. 

 

“Y-yeah, I think so,” I answered. “What happened?”

 

“Safety feature.  The seats automatically eject in case of emergency and then the car deployed some cushions before impact,” Garmadon explained.  “Hardly any damage to the car.”

 

_The car? What about emotional damage to me?_ I thought but kept it to myself.  I unbuckled my seat belt and looked around.  All I could see were tons of trees, hills, and a wide clearing that the car had made.  I could hear the sound of water, so at least there was a river close by too.

 

“Whadda ya say we just make camp here?” my dad asked me with wide, toothy grin.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Garmadon managed to topple all of our stuff into one big heap of a mess on the ground after getting it out of the back of the car.

 

I was looking around at the area and trying in vain to find out how close we were to actual campsite on my phone.  I should have figured that there wouldn’t be good reception here.

 

“Hey, Luh-loyd, we need to get the tent set up.  Give me a hand, will ya?” Garmadon called to me.

 

“Yeah, sure!” I answered, running over to where he had all the bags. 

 

I dug through them, until I found the large, blue bag that contained the five-man tent.  Sure, it was bigger than what we really needed, but it would fit all our belongings, plus give us plenty of sleeping space. I had also brought a cooler with food and water.

 

I pulled out my handy guide to camping book.   I wanted to look up how to set up a tent properly, since I had only done it once a really long time ago.

 

Garmadon noticed the book I held in my hand.  “We don’t need a book to set up a tent, son.  I’ve got this!”

 

“You know how to set up a tent?” I asked, feeling skeptical.

 

“How hard can it be?” he answered with a shrug, as I pulled out the tent and got the stakes.

 

“Why don’t you collect some firewood and I’ll have this thing up in no time,” Garmadon told me.

 

“Okay,” I answered, still feeling uncertain about letting him do this, but I went off in search of some good pieces of wood.

 

When I came back with a good amount, I was surprised to see that Dad had the tent set up. 

 

“Well, what ya think?” Garmadon asked, as I put the wood down.

 

I looked it over.  It seemed okay on the outside.  I went into the tent to see that he had laid out the sleeping bags and put all our other stuff inside.  Impressive.

 

“Looks pretty good,” I told him as I came back outside.

 

“What did I tell you?  It’s easy,” Garmadon assured me.  “Now, let’s get a fire going.  I’m going to show you how to build a great one!”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

About 20 minutes later, my dad was able to get a roaring fire going.  I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised since he used to live in a volcano.

 

“So, what have we got to eat for tonight?” Garmadon asked me, satisfied with his work.

 

“We can do hot dogs,” I answered.  “And then smores afterwards.”

 

“What’s smores?” my dad asked me, not familiar with usual camping treat.

 

“It’s chocolate and roasted marshmallow, sandwiched between two graham crackers,” I explained.  “It’s a camping favorite.”

 

“Hmm…sounds good,” Garmadon answered thoughtfully.

 

“I’ll get what we need,” I said, getting up from where we had set up logs as benches around the fire pit my dad had made.  I felt a pang of sorrow that my father hadn’t experienced this kind of thing before, but at least he would now.

 

I came back with the items needed for smores, along with some sticks to roast the hot dogs and marshmallow’s on.  I found out that my dad really liked his hot dog well cooked, as in black, while as I liked mine just a little charred. 

 

After we ate our hot dogs, we moved on to toasting our marshmallows. 

 

“So, uh, how’s school?” Garmadon asked me.

 

I was taken aback by the question for a moment.  “It’s okay, better than it used to be.”

 

“Oh, how so?” my dad continued.

 

I took my marshmallow off the stick and put it in my graham cracker and chocolate.  I took a bite before answering. 

 

“To be completely honest, no one liked the son of Garmadon.  Everything you did was somehow my fault. It wasn’t easy, dealing with that every day.  And it wasn’t just at school.” 

 

I looked my dad in the eyes.  He looked…uncomfortable, but it was hard to tell in the firelight.

 

“But, it’s better now that everyone knows I’m the Green Ninja.  It also helps that you’re not attacking the city anymore.”

 

“Yeah.  I’m sorry about all of that, Luh-loyd,” my dad finally said.   “But I really am trying to be different.”

 

“I know,” I said, finishing off my smore.  I noticed my dad’s marshmallow was burning.

 

“Dad!  Your marshmallow is on fire!” I told him.

 

Garmadon looked down to see his marshmallow burning.  He pulled it out of the fire and blew the flame out. 

 

“I do like things burnt to a crisp,” he said with a smirk, putting his smore together.  He then took a bite. “Hey, this is pretty good!”

 

I couldn’t help but smile.

 

Suddenly, there was a gush of wind that came up, followed by the sound of our tent blowing over. 

 

I got up and ran over to the now collapsed tent.  It wasn’t staked properly.

 

“Uh, dad? I thought you said you knew how put up a tent?” I asked, giving him a pointed look.

 

Garmadon put a hand behind his head and rubbed it.  “It looked okay to me,” he answered.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

“Rise and shine, Luh-loyd!”

 

I groaned at hearing the sound of my dad’s gruff but cheerful voice.  Was it morning already?  I squinted at the light that was shining through the tent.  At least it stayed up all night, after I secured it.  I didn’t trust my dad to do it right.

 

“I made breakfast!” Garmadon continued, his face coming into view.

 

“Okay, okay,” I grumbled at him.  “Just give me a minute.”  I wasn’t a morning person.  I yawned and stretched, getting out of my sleeping bag to get dressed, seeing that my dad had left.  I wondered what he had made.

 

When I emerged from the tent, I was surprised that find that he had made eggs and bacon.  I had brought along some basic cooking items.

 

“I hope you don’t mind that I went through the food you brought,” Garmadon said, when he saw me. 

 

“No, I don’t mind,” I answered, sitting down on log near the fire.  Breakfast smelled good.  “I didn’t know you could cook.”

 

Garmadon gave me a wide grin, as he handed me a plate of food. “There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

 

He was right about that.  I took a bite of the eggs.  The tasted differently from eggs I’ve had at home.  “These eggs have a different taste to them- where did they come from?” I asked.

 

“Oh, I found them down by the river.  No idea what they are,” my dad told me in between bites.

 

I swallowed my eggs, but didn’t eat any more, moving on to the bacon that I at least knew where it came from.

 

“So, I was thinking that it would be fun to go canoeing today,” Garmadon continued.

 

I remembered that he had brought a canoe.  I had never done it before. 

 

“Sure, sounds good,” I replied. 

 

After breakfast, we decided to explore the area to find out where the best place was to start from.  Along the way, I placed some markers, (recommended by the book) so we could find our way back, since the river was a distance away from our campsite.

 

“Dad, I didn’t bring any life jackets,” I told him, as we were getting ready to get into the canoe. 

 

“We’ll be fine.  I’m a good swimmer,” Garmadon answered.  “Besides, this river looks very calm and not that deep.”

 

“It could be rough further down,” I pointed out.

 

“Don’t worry about it,” my dad told me.  “We won’t go that far.” 

 

“Okay,” I said, getting in and taking a paddle, we shoved off. 

 

We went down far enough for the river to widen out a bit.  I brought a compass with me, just in case and checked the direction we came from so we could find our way back.

 

I noticed that we were starting to go a bit faster.  It seemed like the water was getting rougher.

 

“Dad, I think we should head back.  The water seems a lot faster here,” I said.

 

“I’m just gonna take this curve around.  It should take us back around in a loop,” my dad answered. 

 

I looked down at my compass.  I didn’t think my dad’s ‘detour’ was going to take us back in the right direction. 

 

“That’s not going to take us the right way,” I pointed out.

 

“It’ll be fine,” Garmadon said, dismissively.

 

I clenched my fists.  He wasn’t listening.  In fact, as I thought about it, he never listened.  I don’t know what came over me, but I wasn’t going to just let this pass.

 

“Look dad, we’re heading the wrong way! We need to go that way!” I pointed back to where we had come from. 

 

“I’m telling you that this will loop back around,” Garmadon argued.

 

I glared at him and then took my paddle and started pushing against the way he was going.

 

“Luh-loyd!  What are you doing?” my dad asked.

 

“Taking us back!” I said.  Because he was still rowing, we ended up just spinning around.

 

“Stop paddling!  We’re just going in circles!” I yelled.

 

“You stop!  I know what I’m doing!” Garmadon shouted.

 

“No, you don’t!” I answered back, fighting for control of the canoe.

 

Neither one of us would yield, and the more we pushed against each other, the more the canoe rocked and with the current picking up speed, it finally tipped over. 

 

I found myself struggling to keep my head above water with the fast current.  I looked around wildly for my dad, but I couldn’t see him.

 

I tried in vain to swim out of the current and towards land, but it kept pulling me along.

 

“Luh-loyd!” I heard my dad calling me.

 

I couldn’t see him as I went under the water.  I re-surfaced after struggling against the strong current.  I coughed and gulped air.  I saw that I was heading towards what looked like a drop off…a waterfall!  I tried desperately to swim against the current the other way, where I finally caught sight of my dad, who was clinging to the canoe, while trying to reach me.

 

“Luh-loyd!” he called again.  “Hold on!”

 

_Hold on to what?_ I thought.  There was nothing I could do, and my dad wouldn’t make it to me in time.  For the second time on this trip, I thought I was going to die.

 

I felt myself fall through the air.

 

Suddenly, everything went black.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the angst-but it had to happen.


	3. Misunderstandings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final part of this camping adventure. Misunderstandings happen. Enough said.

I heard a deep voice calling to me.  I didn’t want to open my eyes.

 

“Son? Wake up!” I heard.  Then someone was gently shaking me.  I slowly opened my eyes.  My head hurt. 

 

“Are you okay?” Garmadon’s face came into view.

 

I looked around to see that I was back on land.  “Uh… I think so,” I answered slowly. “What happened?”

 

“You went over a small waterfall, and hit your head on a rock,” my dad answered.  “But I found you and pulled you out of the water.”

 

I felt the bump on my head.  Ow.  “Thanks, for saving me.”

 

Garmadon blinked.  “Of course.”  I sneezed.  “We need to get back to camp.”  He looked down at me.  “Can you walk?”

 

“Yeah, I think so,” I answered. 

 

My dad reached out three of his hands and helped me stand up.  I remembered that I still had my compass in my pocket.  Thankfully, it didn’t fall out and it was waterproof.

 

“We need to head north,” I said, pointing in the said direction. 

 

We walked on in silence for a while.  I started to feel bad that I had gotten so angry at my dad. I guess I haven’t completely let go of the past.  I was trying to think about what to say to bridge the gap.  I wondered if my dad was feeling as uncomfortable as I was.

 

Suddenly, my stomach growled.  I had no idea what time it was, probably near lunchtime, judging by my stomach.

 

“Someone’s hungry,” Garmadon’s voice said with a chuckle from behind me.

 

I felt heat coming into my face.  “Yeah, being in peril does that to a person,” I answered humorously.

 

My dad laughed at this.  “I’m feeling pretty hungry myself.”

 

When we reached a familiar area, my dad wanted to take a shortcut off the main path to get back to camp.  He insisted it would be faster.

 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told him.  “We should stay on the main path.”

 

“It’ll be fine,” Garmadon answered, as he made his way through a lot of underbrush.

 

As I looked closer at the plants that he just went through, I realized what it was.

 

“Uh, dad?” I called.

 

“What?”

 

“You just went through poison ivy.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

I looked up in my handy guide to camping what to do for poison ivy.  I noticed my dad was starting to scratch.

 

“Dad, don’t do that,” I told him.  “That just makes it worse.”

 

“What else am I supposed to do?” he answered, sulkily.  He wasn’t happy that his ‘shortcut’ turned out this way.

 

“I have some alcoholic wipes that should help,” I told him.  “And then you wash off in water.”

 

Garmadon grunted.  “Ugh, fine.  I’ll do anything at this point.”  He took the wipes from me and stomped off to the river.

 

I just shook my head. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Some time had passed, and I was beginning to wonder what was keeping my dad so long and if I should look for him.

 

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud, angry shout. 

 

“Come back here with my clothes!”

 

I looked up and saw my dad running through the woods with nothing on!  Seemed like he was chasing some animal that must have taken his clothes.  My face turned red.  It was a good thing that no one else was around to see this.   Why didn’t he at least take a towel with him?

 

He finally came back to the campsite after much yelling, running and threating to kill the animal, and approached where I was sitting, holding his clothes to himself.

 

At least he was partially covered now.

 

“The animals here are crazy, Luh-loyd, so watch yourself,” Garmadon told me breathing heavily.

 

“Um…yeah, sure, dad.  Can you please put your clothes on?” I asked, looking at the ground.

 

He blushed.  “Oh, yeah, right.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The next morning, I awoke to hear a strange noise.  It sounded like a munching sound.  I got up and stepped over my dad, who was snoring lightly. 

 

I stepped outside the tent and saw that a large, brown bear was eating our food.  Leave it to my dad, who must not have secured it properly last night.

 

I wracked my brain for what to do in this situation.  “Uh…let’s see…run…no...climb a tree…no…bear spray…don’t have any…”

 

The bear then noticed me.  It popped its jaws, snorted, and swatted the ground with its front paw.  This didn’t look good. 

 

I started to back away, but it suddenly charged me.

 

“Help!” I yelled as I decided to hit the ground and play dead, hoping for the best.

 

The commotion must have woken up my dad, because the next thing I knew, I heard a loud battle cry.

 

I lifted my head slightly to see him charging the bear with some kind of weapon. 

 

Wait…weapon?

 

Garmadon slid along the ground and thrust his weapon under the bear’s chest and hefted it high into the air, catching it off guard. 

 

I couldn’t see where it landed.

 

“Luh-loyd, are you okay?” my dad asked, for the third time on this trip.

 

“Y-yeah.”  I was stunned.  I knew my dad was strong, but I hadn’t really seen him do anything like this. 

 

I stood up and dusted myself off, staring at the weapon in my dad’s hands.  It was his shark tipped staff.

 

“Dad--I thought you weren’t going to bring any weapons!”

 

He smirked and shrugged his shoulders.  “Yeah, well, I changed my mind.  I figured it might come in handy.” 

 

I guess I should be grateful that he did bring it.  “I owe you twice then,” I answered, rubbing the back of head.  I felt like this whole trip had been nothing but saving me from danger, and here I am supposed to be a ninja.  Guess I still had a lot to learn.

 

“Who’s counting?” Garmadon answered with a toothy grin.  “You’re my son.”

 

I don’t know what it was about that statement, but it touched me somehow.  In all those years, I never knew if my father cared about me.  I had only seen him once or twice in my childhood, and then when he started attacking Ninjago, we spent our time fighting each other.  Of course, he didn’t know it was me at the time, but still.  It really did seem that there was more to him than I thought. 

 

“Well, what do we do now that the bear ate most of our food?” I asked.

 

Garmadon waved his hand around.  “No problem-I brought fishing poles, and we can go fishing.”

 

I raised my eyebrow.  “You know how to fish?”

 

“Of course, I do!  How do you think I got all those sharks in my lair?” He grinned at me. 

 

I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the answer to that.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

We found a spot along the river that Garmadon thought would be a good place to find fish.

 

“This is your lucky day, Luh-loyd, because I’m going to teach you how fish,” Garmadon told me, handing me a fishing pole.  He pulled out some brightly colored lures and showed me how to put it on the end of the hook.

 

“Now, the secret to lures is that you have to keep it moving, so the fish will be attracted to it.  Like this.”  

 

Garmadon threw his line out back and forth a couple of times, and made some quick movements, pulling up on his pole slightly.

 

I duplicated what he had done.

 

“When you feel a tug on the line, you’ll want to keep a firm tension on it, and then give it a yank.”   He came closer to me.  “Keep your pole at a 45-degree angle,” he said, adjusting my grip. 

 

“Okay, I think I got it,” I answered, wondering how long it would take to catch something. 

 

Hopefully soon, because I was starving.  We waited, and waited, and waited.  Time seemed to slow to a crawl.

 

Two things happened; I got bored and was getting eaten by mosquitoes.  I had forgotten to put on my bug repellent.  I looked over at my dad who seemed impervious to mosquito bites.  Maybe they were afraid to bite a warlord. 

 

“I got one!” Garmadon suddenly yelled.  I looked over at him.  He reeled his line in and pulled up hard on the pole. 

 

“Watch this, Luh-loyd.  This is how you bring ‘em in,” he continued.  Just then his line went limp. 

 

I hid my smile.  A few minutes later, he got another bite and did the same thing with the same result.

 

“Third time’s the charm,” Garmadon said, as he tried to reel in another fish.  No luck.  “Oh, come on!” he growled. 

 

I guessed there were some things that were hard even for him.  Then I suddenly felt a tug on my pole. 

 

“Dad!  I think I got a bite!” I said, excited.

 

I reeled the fish in slowly up and out of the water, remembering what my dad had told me earlier.  I caught a big one!

 

“Wow, look at that dad!  My first try!”

 

“Guess you got beginner’s luck,” Garmadon answered with a pout and went back to try to catch something too.

 

I ended up catching five fish, while my dad only got two.  I think he was envious, because he threw his pole into the water after I got my fifth one.

 

We walked back to the campsite with our catches.  I was feeling pretty good, as I was finally able to do something without a lot of difficulty.  I stole a glance at my dad, who seemed down.

 

“Hey dad?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Um…thanks.” I paused for a moment.  “For showing me how to fish.”

 

Garmadon’s eyes lit up.  “You picked it up pretty fast.”

 

“I had a good teacher,” I told him.

 

“Naturally,” he boasted. “But it was so much easier catching sharks.”

 

I couldn’t help but laugh.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

Interlude-Ninja’s POV:

 

Back in Ninjago City, Jay had gathered the other ninja together in the warehouse.

 

“Thanks for coming over guys,” the lightening ninja started.

 

“What’s this about Jay?” Cole asked.

 

“I’m concerned about Lloyd,” he answered.

 

The other ninja just looked at each other like ‘what’s the big deal?’ 

 

“We haven’t heard from him at all.  And he said that if we didn’t hear from him, we should go look for him,” Jay finished.

 

“I thought he said if he didn’t come back,” Kai corrected.  “They still have today left.”

 

“Yeah, and he’s probably in a remote area where his phone doesn’t work,” Nya put in.

 

“That would be a correct assumption,” Zane added.

 

Jay shook his head.  “He said he’d be at a campsite with wifi.  We should have heard from him at least once. And this is Garmadon we’re talking about.  Do we really know he’s changed?  What if he’s secretly teaching Lloyd the dark ninja arts… OR WORSE?”

 

“Jay, I think you’re being paranoid,” Cole answered, rolling his eyes.

 

“I think that we should at least check on him,” Jay insisted.

 

“Okay, fine,” Kai finally said.  “Lloyd told me the place they were going to.  But we’re going to keep a low profile.  Got it?”

 

Everyone nodded.  “Ninja go!”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

At the campsite, the Ninja had split up and checked out the whole place, but there was no sign of Lloyd or Garmadon.

 

“See?  What did I tell you?” Jay said.  “Something bad has happened, I know it!”

 

“Let’s widen our search area.  They can’t be far,” Kai said.

 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

It was Zane who finally found something.  He found a clearing and saw Garmadon.  He radioed the others who then crept in quietly to observe the warlord.  Lloyd wasn’t in sight.

 

They saw a large pit with spit going over it and lots of wood under it.  Garmadon was walking around it, whistling and holding a rope.  He took out a dagger and placed it on the log near the pit.

 

“Oh boy, this is going to be good,” they heard Garmadon talking.  “I haven’t done this in a long time.”

 

The ninja kept watching and listening. 

 

“Luh-loyd won’t be able to resist this!”  Garmadon laughed and headed out of sight.

 

The ninja all looked with concern at each other.

 

“I think he’s up to no good,” Jay said.  “What he doing with all that stuff?  And where’s Lloyd?”

 

“Maybe he’s in the tent,” Cole suggested.

 

“I’ll admit that Garmadon’s acting suspicious,” Kai said.

 

“We should watch a little longer,” Zane put in.  “Just to make sure.”

 

“Yeah, Zane’s right.  We shouldn’t just barge in,” Nya agreed.

 

They waited and watched for what seemed like a long time.  Then they heard a voice.

 

“Dad, what are you doing?”  It was Lloyd’s voice.

 

“You’ll see.  I can’t have you ruining my fun now, can I?” Garmadon answered vaguely.

 

Lloyd was being led by his father blindfolded.  It didn’t look good at all. 

 

“I told you something bad was happening,” Jay whispered.  “What do we do?”

 

“If we all charge at once, we can catch Garmadon by surprise and save Lloyd,” Kai said.  “On the count of three…one…two…THREE!”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

As I was being led along, I suddenly heard a bunch of yelling, and the sound of pounding footsteps coming towards me.  Was this part of my dad’s surprise?

 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Garmadon growled.

 

Okay, so maybe this isn’t part of the plan.

 

“That’s just what we were going to ask you!” Nya said.

 

“Yeah,” other voices chorused. Those voices sounded an awful lot like my friends-but why would they be here?

 

“Guys?” I asked, still uncertain because of my blindfold, “Is that really you?”

 

“We came to rescue you, Lloyd!” Jay said.  “We saw Garmadon doing some strange things and then we saw you blindfolded.”

 

“You guys have it all wrong!” the warlord yelled.  “You’re ruining my plans!”

 

“And what exactly are your plans?” Zane asked him.

 

“Let me go and I’ll show you!” Garmadon snapped, still trying to break free.

 

My friends grunted, trying to keep him down.

 

I took off my blindfold.  I was surprised to see that Kai and Cole had my dad subdued.

 

“Come on, Lloyd!  Let’s make a run for it!” Jay said.

 

“Wait, guys, it’s not what you think,” I said.  They all looked at me like I was crazy.  “It’s a long story…but first, let him go.”

 

They still looked at me uncertainly, but they released my dad, who then shoved them away in a huff.  He walked over to a nearby tree and folded his four arms over his chest, glaring at my friends.

 

“What’s going on, Lloyd?” Kai asked me.

 

I told them the whole story of how we ended up in this place instead the camp site and why I hadn’t reached out to them. 

 

“But that still doesn’t explain what Garmadon was doing having you blindfolded,” Cole interjected.

 

“Well…” I rubbed the back of my head.

 

“I’ll show you what that was about,” Garmadon spoke up.  He walked over to where the large fire pit was and then pulled on a rope that had been loosely wrapped around the tree.

 

“I caught this wild boar,” the warlord explained.  “I was going to surprise Luh-loyd with it for dinner, until you guys had to barge in and ruin everything.”

 

The ninja all looked sheepish. 

 

“But it all looked so suspicious,” Jay defended.

 

“My dad has a flair for the dramatics,” I told them.  “He really wanted to surprise me, in his own strange way.  I went along with it, but I had no idea exactly what he was planning.”

 

“So, you’re not in danger?” Kai asked.

 

“No, I’m not,” I assured them.

 

“But _you_ might be if you ever pull a stunt like this again,” Garmadon threatened.

 

“Dad!” I scolded.  “It was a simple misunderstanding.”

 

“Whatever,” my dad grumbled, still clearly not happy with my friends.

 

“What don’t you guys stay and eat with us, since you’re here?” I offered.

 

“What?” Garmadon protested.

 

“Dad, come on.  They came all this way to make sure I was okay,” I told him.

 

He opened his mouth but shut it again.  He walked over to the fire pit and started getting the boar ready to cook.

 

“Just give him some time,” I told my friends, who were still wary of the warlord.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In the end, we had a great pig roast.  I had to admit that it very tasty.  I was touched by my friend’s loyalty to me.  It was fun to be with them again.  I told them stories of our camping trip, causing them to laugh, and they filled me in on what they had all done.

 

After doing some star gazing, which everyone, including my dad, thought was awesome (as you could see so many more stars away from the city) they all decided to leave and go back to Ninjago City, wanting to give my dad and I a little more time before we also would have to head back home.

 

As we were laying down in our sleeping bags for the night, my dad spoke up.

 

“I have to admit, you’ve got some good friends, son,” he told me.  “It takes some guts to do what they did for you.”

 

“Yeah, I really do,” I chuckled.  “They’ve always been there for me.”

 

Garmadon was quiet for a bit.  Maybe he was feeling guilty about what I just said.

 

“Dad?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I had a really good time with you,” I told him, sincerely.  “Thanks for spending this time with me.”

 

Garmadon fell silent for a few moments, surprised by what I said.

 

“You’re welcome,” he finally said. “I had a good time, too.”

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

The drive back to Ninjago City was thankfully, uneventful.  The traffic wasn’t even that bad.

 

We reached the apartment complex and Garmadon parked the car and turned to face me. 

 

“Well, this is it,” he said.  “Need any help with your stuff?”

 

“No thanks.  I got it,” I told him.  I paused for a moment.  I wondered when I would see him next.

 

“So, do you want to do something again, sometime?” I asked.

 

“Sure, anytime son.  Just call me,” Garmadon answered, ruffling my hair.

 

I shot him a look but nodded and got out to grab my stuff. 

 

As I walked away, he honked at me and then turned on his music full blast as he sped off down the street, making a few people jump to get out of his way.

 

I shook my head.  Some things about my dad would never change, and that was okay.

 

I came in the door.  It was good to be back home again. 

 

“Hi, mom.  I’m back!”

 

THE END

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this crazy, little camping story of mine. Until next time!

**Author's Note:**

> *this is a real car concept that I looked up (https://www.wired.com/2016/03/lincolns-yacht-sized-concept-suv-closet-staircase/)


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